West African Leaders Meet to Adopt Mali Intervention Plan

By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo -
Nov 11, 2012

West African leaders “endorsed the
main recommendations” of a plan to intervene militarily in
Mali, and will commit 3,300 troops to help retake that country’s
northern region, which has been occupied by rebel groups since
April, according to a statement.

The Economic Community of West African States “reiterates
that dialogue remains the preferred option in the resolution of
the political crisis in Mali,” the group said in a statement
issued today at the end of a summit in Abuja, the Nigerian
capital. “However, regarding the security situation, recourse
to force may be indispensable in order to dismantle terrorist
and transnational criminal networks that pose a threat to
international peace and security.”

Troops will come from Nigeria, Burkina Faso and the
Republic of Niger, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who
is chairman of the 15-member Ecowas, told reporters today. Other
West African countries and two or three non-African nations may
also send troops, he said.

Ecowas defense and foreign ministers met behind closed
doors on Nov. 9 in Abuja where they harmonized proposals on
troop deployment that were prepared with Mali in consultation
with experts from the African Union, the United Nations and
other international partners.

The group adopted the planned troop deployment and asked
the African Union to endorse the plan, according to the
statement. Ecowas “urges the UN Security Council to examine the
concept with a view to authorizing the deployment of the
international military force in Mali in conformity with chapter
VII of the UN Chapter.”

Military Coup

The military in Mali, which vies with Tanzania as Africa’s
third-biggest gold producer, led a coup in March that ousted
President Amadou Toure and left a power vacuum in Bamako, Mali’s
capital, that allowed ethnic Touareg rebels to take control of
the north, aided by Islamist groups including Ansar ud-Din and
al-Qaeda’s African branch.

African nations along with the U.S. and France have been
discussing an intervention plan to oust the rebels, who are
carrying out executions, amputations and floggings in their bid
to enforce strict Islamic law, according to New York-based Human
Rights Watch. The African Union and the UN Security Council must
approve the plan.